Here is an updated video for the Interfaith Thanksgiving. I redid it in Windows Movie Maker.
Dedicated to Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg, his wife Rivka, their two year old son Moshe (who by the hand of God escaped), and the other victims of religious intolerance at the hands of fanatics in Mumbai. All persons who thirst after righteousness await the promise of Psalm 1.
1. The praises of a man are that he did not follow the counsel of the wicked, neither did he stand in the way of sinners nor sit in the company of scorners. 2. But his desire is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night. 3. He shall be as a tree planted beside rivulets of water, which brings forth its fruit in its season, and its leaves do not wilt; and whatever he does prosper. 4. Not so the wicked, but [they are] like chaff that the wind drives away. 5. Therefore, the wicked shall not stand up in judgment, nor shall the sinners in the congregation of the righteous. 6. For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked shall perish. Psalm 1
The Columbia Interfaith Council sponsored their annual Thanksgiving Celebration on November 25th, 2008. Below is the program of events, some pictures, and a video of the event. Interestingly enough EVERY organization represented in the program had a web site:
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Program of Events:
Welcome - Rev. John Prenger and Rashed Nizam Presentation of Proclamation - Mayor Darwin Hindman Introductions - Virginia Bzdek
Hindu Temple and Community Center of Mid-Missouri Satkaar: A Hindu Perspective on Thanksgiving by Dr. H.R. Chandrasekhar Deepanjall: An Invocation dance by Nilla Palanlappan and Suyanshi Rawat Hey Dayamal: A Prayer song for peace, togetherness and faith by Shubna Ratneshwar accompnied by AartiNagaka, Nila Paianiappan, Sidarth Kukikkad, Umla Kutikkadd
Friends Meeting (Quaker) Quaker Poetry and Worship Sherry Monroe, Sylvia Spotts, Nancy Finke Congregation Beth Shalom "What should we be grateful for?" Rabbi Yossi Feintuch Poems written for the occasion by Jerry Perkoff Nichiren Buddhist Prayer for Peace: A Medley of Music and Recitations by Saka Gakkal International - Columbia Members Baha'i Faith Scriptural Reading - Tyree Byndom Seek no Further - sung by Mark Stannard (composer) and Jeani Driscoll Listen - by Red Grammar - guitarists; Jesca Byndom, Tyree Byndam, Jeani Driscall, Jeanette Rast, Mark Stannard The Katalyzt's - sharing an original Composition - "Raisem"
Stealing the show was Nilla Palanlappan and Suyanshi Rawat with their invocation dance "Deepanjali:
A close second was poet Jerry Perkoff who read a hauntingly beautiful poem alluding to the shoah:
Mayor Darwin Hindman presented a proclamation, shown being accepted by Rev. John Prenger, in recognition of the event:
Last year this event was held at Congregation Beth Shalom, the local synagogue, soon after the new building was completed. This year the event was held at the University of Missouri, Columbia campus under the sponsorship of the Islamic Center of Central Missouri.
I think this event should be better attended, and covered in the media, as it is the only ongoing formal effort to bring divergent faiths together.
Columbia is on my short list of places I want to live. The other places on that list include New York; San Diego; Paris; and perversely Manhattan, Kansas. One reason I love it so much, like Manhattan, is that it is a college town with lots of diversity and a good deal of tolerance. The Columbia Interfaith Council represents a lot of the good things that Columbia is all about. Now here is the video:
Then, out of the blue the campaign unexpectedly made a decision for Obama to come to Columbia. I kept my promise. I went to the event with Rachel, her sister Hannah, and their older sister Jessica as well as Jessica's boyfriend. My mother-in-law drove in from St. Louis to go with us.
Queuing. We get in line. 5 p.m.
And queuing. Still waiting in line. We have over an hour to go and have been waiting already for over an hour. Starting to get dark.
T-shirts. While waiting in line we buy some souvenirs. I really wish I had bought Hannah and Rachel another shirt! The ones I did buy they wore to school the next day. Neither girl complained once. They knew they were part of something big. They will never forget this. The line is not moving yet.
Moving. Line starts moving sometime after 7:30 p.m.
Inside. The venue - bright lights and crowds.
Waiting. Inside the venue is my oldest daughter Jessica with me and her little sisters. She drove all the way down from Truman to be a part of history. After 9 p.m.
Arrival. Obama arrives at 9:20 p.m. and even ten minutes early. I have never been at one of these events where the candidate was actually early! Is he a night owl? I think so.
The speech. An excerpt from then candidate, now President, Obama's speech.
Leaving. Heading North, that is Jesse Hall in the background, toward the now empty security tents. This is where we came in emptying our pockets and going through the metal detector.
This was all before the election. We were all hopeful and thankfully our dreams did come true.
Prologue. November 4th - on my way to work I stopped to vote. Work. When I got to work their were two Obama booths set up in the lobby. Here is one of them with the two children that were there that day with their mother. Columbia Public schools had decided for various reasons to dismiss school for the day.
Perhaps the two most moving scenes latter that night were both at the victory celebration in Chicago latter that night. Here is the Rev. Jesse Jackson who is completely overcome with emotion at the sight of his brother achieving what he himself had not been able to do and fulfilling Dr. King's vision:
The other was Obama with his wife and two little girls - making history.
A friend indicated that his daughter, attending a university here in Missouri, had 9000 text messages for one month and his bill for the text messaging alone was hundreds of dollars. Being a person of some life experience and of a curious nature he decided to investigate and to work something out with his cell phone carrier. In his conversation with the carrier not knowing what had happened (the charges were eventually dropped and text capability to his daughter's cell phone was disabled) he was able to get transcripts of the calls which were done mostly in class at university and mostly with friends who were in the class sitting next to her or in some close proximity. In other words many members of the class were text messaging each other.
Here are some excerpts from the transcripts of the calls he was able to procure from the cell phone company. Most of the messages where of this ilk:
"Hi"
"Sucks"
"What ya doin?"
My gosh, the elequence, the profound erudation of these young scholars as they indulge in their scholarly discourse.
Most of the messages to and from people she could have literally reached out and touched. So, 9000 text messages in thirty days works out to 300 text messages a day. His daughter was sending or receiving an average of 300 text messages a day. The interesting thing is that his daughter is not an isolated case.
There are some students where I teach that I literally never see without their cell phone. I am not exaggerating for rhetorical purposes or to make a point. They always have their phones out. Walking in the hallways, in class, wherever I see them. I think they have become expert at memorizing the keyboards and will look at you and talk while "participating" in class - all the time texting. Last year I went to a performance of a Chinese acrobatic troupe at Truman State University. As the lights dimmed spread across the large auditorium was the soft comforting green glow of cell phones. Many students text messaged there way through that performance.
Several times I have been driving and seen two people in the car, often couples, and both of them on cell phones. While driving. Besides a bike I drive a mini van and it sits high. When I drive it I can see lots of stuff from way up high in the drivers seat and I see people text messaging all the time while they drive.
Last week I was driving home on my bike when one individual pulled out in front of me twice. The first time she pulled into a four lane highway from a side road at Reactor Field at the University of Missouri, and then in front of the stadium complex she cut left into my lane to make a left turn. She did not see me. She was text messaging. It was getting dark and I could see the glow of her phone and her fingers feverishly moving across the keyboard. She had her right hand with the cell phone resting on the steering wheel and her head was inclined toward it. Not the road. So, she could have killed me two times. Killed the father of four kids because she was text messaging on the telephone having some inane pseudo conversation with acquaintances. What saved me is that I assume everybody is text messaging and will pull out in front of me.
As a young man I was lastingly influenced by the book Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig. In that book he talks about taking a friends motorcycle into a motorcycle shop. Here is the beginning of that particular story:
'The shop was a different scene from the ones I remembered. The mechanics, who had once all seemed like ancient veterans, now looked like children. A radio was going full blast and they were clowning around and talking and seemed not to notice me. When one of them finally came over he barely listened to the piston slap before saying, "Oh yeah. Tappets."' (Pirsig)
The mechanics were distracted and working on motorcycles, what should have been their primary concern, was secondary to socializing and listening to the radio. In modern parlance they were multi-tasking.
As it turned out the repair job was botched, the motorcycle left in worse shape than it came in, and actually seized (a dangerous maneuver on a motorcycle to say the least), a few weeks later. To this day inattentiveness and horseplay in a place of business where I am buying some good or service will cause me to leave.
For those of you unfamiliar with the book Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance is not a work of fiction. So, Pirsig began to wonder what could have caused it. What caused the mechanical work done to his friends BMW to be so slipshod?
"Why did they butcher it so? These were not people running away from technology, like John and Sylvia. These were the technologists themselves. They sat down to do a job and they performed it like chimpanzees. Nothing personal in it. There was no obvious reason for it. And I tried to think back into that shop, that nightmare place, to try to remember anything that could have been the cause." (Pirsig)
I have never forgotten this incident from the book and to this day am alert to the danger of carlessness and inattentivness to task. He concludes:
"The radio was a clue. You can't really think hard about what you're doing and listen to the radio at the same time. Maybe they didn't see their job as having anything to do with hard thought, just wrench twiddling. If you can twiddle wrenches while listening to the radio that's more enjoyable.
Their speed was another clue. They were really slopping things around in a hurry and not looking where they slopped them. More money that way...if you don't stop to think that it usually takes longer or comes out worse.
But the biggest clue seemed to be their expressions. They were hard to explain. Good-natured, friendly, easygoing...and uninvolved. They were like spectators." (Pirsig)
The parallels are amazing. In many ways many, if not most, of my students are spectators to their education. They too are usually "... good-natured, friendly, easygoing, and uninvolved." They are not hostile to technology but for them it is a diversion. They are consumers of education rather than involved in a process. They are the result of the commodification of education into just another good and service.
I am more afraid of careless and inattentive people than I am of mean people. I can generally avoid the mean person or where they congregate. Generally mean people, criminals and the like who are out to purposefully hurt you, are relatively rare and you see them coming. Careless and inattentive people are all around us. They kill lots of people, cause untold grief, and trillions of dollars worth of damage. They are nice. They are friendly, and they are easy going. They would like to send you a text message.
Texting While Driving
Brittany Spears Caught Texting While Driving
Postscript
Tonight I picked up my daughter from a birthday party and stopped into the local Schnucks store.
There was a moonlighting policeman, a man, acting as security. Guess what he was doing? Texting. That reminded me of two weeks ago when I went to Daniel Boone Regional Library and again a police officer, this time a woman, spent the entire time I was there texting on her phone. So, this bad habit of texting while you should be doing something else is not confined to the young.
So is text messaging addictive?
"The Priory Clinic, one of Britain’s best known psychiatric clinics and a respected authority on addiction, announced Monday that there has been a huge rise in technology-related addictions recently, and in particular, addictions to text messaging and internet surfing." http://badgerherald.com/news/2003/10/08/text_messaging_addic.php
Is it addiction or just irresponsible behavior? I think irresponsible behavior. So, if your sitting in class, driving, or being paid by a local business to act as security why not be responsible and do the right thing. Pay attention to what is in front of you. Pay attention to what it is that you should be doing.
I have shocking, breaking news, with actual images of welfare cheats. Many times the Republican watchdogs and the big dog himself, President Bush, have warned us about how welfare cheats take money out of honest taxpayer pockets. I have to admit that I did not believe it until now.
I may sound like an ignoramus but these people need to go out and get a job just like I do. I work for my money and I don't want my tax dollars going to these bums who are too lazy to get off their rear ends and work. What is worse, is that this pattern is clearly generational with certain, unnamed, demographic and cultural groups that pass this behavior onto their offspring. We must find a way to break that cycle. So, imagine my delight in being able to offer you these exclusive images of actual welfare cheats. Yes, welfare cheats that are taking billions of dollars out of our pockets and holding our children's future ransom. Something needs to be done! Here are the shocking portraits. I wish I could have gotten them all but they are sneaky as heck and do not like to have their pictures taken - for obvious reasons:
You should be disgusted. We have yet another Bush "crisis" that has been years in the making. Once more Bush is urging us to make a hasty decision on the verge of a congressional recess about yet another ill defined problem with a sketchy thrown together solution.
What most American's do not realize is that we have just handed the auto industry 25 billion dollars, the government has already bailed out AIG, and we are asking to hurry up and hand over an additional 750 billion dollars.
Is the economy ready to collapse? All I know is that for many Americans it has already collapsed with record numbers of foreclosures. The same macho market capitalist that did not want to bail out the homeowners a couple of weeks ago are now begging on their knees for BILLIONS of dollars or they are being silent. They are absalutely shameless. No apologies, no statements from the wrong doers, no thanks, just a wane silence from those who have gone through the back doors of our political system.
I don't think the economic system would collapse. I think the economic system inhabited by the rich in this country would collapse but how does that effect most working Americans? I am not so sure that it does. There is a LOT of money to be made in usury and astute business people will find a way to make that happen.
I do give a tip of the hat though to the free market ideologist in the Republican party who have stuck to their guns and finally at this late hour in the Bush misadministration are balking at what has become known to us as "the plan." That mysterious deal which our leaders in their arrogance are making against the will of the American people - the left and the right. Here is a typical quote I found but the Internet is full of these self-righteous Patriots:
I went to the grocery store and there was this fat women (they usually say fat because it helps drive home the point that the welfare recipiant is not only no good but a lazy no good) in front of me. She was buying steaks and other items with her food stamps that I can't afford and I have a job.
Unfortunately food stamps have gone the way of all flesh and have been replaced by some kind of swipe debit card system. It is a shame. Those stories were a hoot and a sure fire way of smoking bigots out. But, thanks to Google I found out that this genre of urban culture still exist! My question is how did the following sharp eyed observer know that it was a food stamp card?! I never pay attention to what kind of card a person is paying with and I could care less. Think maybe this story is false?
Well I just have to vent! I just came from the Food Market (had to pick up a few things)I was at the meat counter and this couple came running up to the counter with a buggy and loaded it down with almost all of the family pak size of ribeye steaks, well I get behind them at the check out, with my one small pak of pork chops and low and behold the couple pull out they're FOODSTAMP CARD! Anyone with common sense knows what they're going to do with them, sell them for Drugs or what ever! THIS MAKES ME SICK! I work everyday my paycheck gets smaller and smaller because of cost of living and taxes, and I just felt like I was being taken totally advantage of, I felt like it was coming out of my pocket ( which it was) I wanted to say something to them sooo bad, but they weren't the most decent looking people if you know what I mean, I know it is tuff times on people and I know some people need assistance,but I feel it should be limited to the items you can buy with the card like no junk food, no expensive meats etc. it should only be stables such as bread, milk, dry beans,flour, sugar, peanutbutter,eggs, canned fruit ext. Does anyone remember commodities that you used to get, well my grandmother got them we had to go help her pick them up and she was grateful for them and they were all stables they you used and cooked with. if we went back to that or only allowed stables to be bought with the foodstamp card I don't think there would be nearly as many people on them, they would have to cook, I do. They wouldn't be buying all these frozen meals, steaks, and junk food,I guess what I'm trying to say is they would learn to manage they're food purchases and prepare meals, and if they wanted anything else they would have to get off they're asses and go to work! I Do! http://forums.timesdaily.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/5521043475/m/5831023177
Check out this post here some more information about food stamp users and obesity:
Let me digress just a moment though. Stay with me because this is worth it. I found this out doing a Google search for nice quotes about food stamp users. There is actually a Rush Limbaugh Club in Orange County. You can't make this stuff up. Check it out.
Obama? Why didn't he come out against this and let the Bush administration finish its self inflicted self-destruction and take John McCain with him. Obama, I still support you but you missed an opportunity here buddy. You sided with the true Welfare Cheats.
Today I started thinking about how hard I have been on President Bush. So, tomorrow I am going to devote a whole blog column to the postive accomplishments of the present administration.
Lets call up this new left handed fastball pitcher up from the farm team. See if he can throw some heat across the plate.
With the economic melt down John McCain has suddenly decided, in a fox hole conversion, to convert to the side of those who see some government regulation as neccessary for a well ordered society. Here is a little quote not so very long ago:
I don’t think anyone who wants to increase the burden of government regulation and higher taxes has any real understanding of economics and the economy and what is needed in order to ensure the future of this country.” – John McCain[McCain Town Hall in Inez, Kentucky, 4/23/08]
Throughout this presidential election process one voice of reason has appealed to me and that is that of Chris Matthews on Hardball. The Philadelphia native provided a great analogy, continuing with the baseball theme, of changing pitchers during the heat of a game. It is painfully obvious when a pitcher is failing and predictable when the coach goes to the bullpen for a replacement. Matthews noted that the coach is not watching the person warming up but the person on the mound. In other words, it is less of a matter of who is waiting in the wings than that a replacement is needed right away. When that person on the mound is clearly done whoever is in the bullpen comes in.
Bush is clearly done. His own team, the Republican party, is disgusted with him and they have already left the stadium. In our system the "pitcher" is elected to their position and they stay until their time is up. So we have to sit and wait for the clock on the absolute worst presidency of the United States to run down. The Democrats left that stadium about eight years ago. Now, I have this vision of Bush pathetically throwing to Dick Chaney and Condolezza Rice and nobody gives a damn. There is not even an opposing team anymore except that ghosty will-o-the-wisp Bin Laden. We are all just waiting for his time to end so we can get on with things. Get on with trying to put the entire world back together which that pathetic left hander will leave robbed and pillaged.
The problem with McCain is that he is indeed part of the old regime and part of the problem. As he tries to portray himself as a Washington outsider who wants to regulate the money and investment markets he makes a damn poor excuse of a Democrat. He is a an elephant in a donkey's clothing. That is not a pretty picture. His pick of Palin as a running mate is turning out to be nothing more than a very successful publicity stunt but the emerging economic crisis leaves McCain flat footed and out of his league. I have had enough of the Republicans who deserve to be punished, banished, for what they did to us with Bush. Four years was bad but eight years has been disastrous.
So, I am voting for Obama, but he had better produce. He needs to be more than glitz and glitter and show some grit and determination. He needs to get humble and wise real quick or we are all screwed. I am sick of the self-righteousness of the right, of their loud and obnoxious belligerence and outright mean spirited scorched earth policy which is exemplified by all the fanatical right wing talk shows. Time for them to go. McCain? The wrong party and the wrong year - he is eight years too late to help us out. God bless him, but please don't let him be our next president so lets not wave him out to the mound. Lets call him into the locker room, wrap a jacket around him, give him a hug, and talk about the good ole days but lets not elect him. Please.
John McCain has been in a position where he could have helped avoid two of our largest problems - the war in Iraq and the economic crisis. He was part of the system as Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Armed Services and the Ranking Member and former Chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce. He is now crying for more regulation in the commerce sector but as I mentioned earlier he is a last minute convert to government supervision of the investment and banking sectors which he did nothing to regulate as a senator. Also, he has no plan for getting out of Iraq, a war which is draining trillions of dollars out of our faltering economy, other than staying the course with what is basically the Bush doctrine.
Time for a change. I can't wait. We cannot take a third Bush term in office. For the American people to replace that old screwball pitcher Bush with a tired ole knuckle baller (a baseball pitch with an erratic unpredictable motion) like McCain would be a travesty. Lets go for the younger relief pitcher. Lets wave Obama out to the mound and bid a fond adieu to McCain before sending him back down to the minors for what is left of his career. You treat a hall of famer with respect. Now, lets see what this new kid can do.
First things first. Since this story is so depressing go to this link of a short parody movie Putting on the Ritz staring those two bozos who scare the beejesus out of us - Bush and Putin.
I went online to read the news about the conflict in the Republic of Georgia and found most of the websites DOWN. This included most of the sources on the following list which is available at: http://www.world-newspapers.com/georgia.html
Georgia News Sources
Caucaz.com Tbilisi-based weekly online magazine. Find articles, investigative reports and analysis of the news in the South Caucasus.
Civil Georgia Independent online magazine providing daily news and analysis.
EurasiaNet: Georgia New York based news and comment service. Funded by the Soros foundation.
Financial Business newspaper written for Georgian opinion leaders and top business decision-makers.
Prime News Agency News agency in Tbilisi, Georgia, providing daily news on Georgia, Caucasus and Former Soviet Union (NIS).
Rustavi2 Leading, independent Georgian TV channel.
Sarke Information Agency News service covering all major events in Georgia. Full text available by subscription.
Sound suspicious? Yep. So I went to slashdot and sure enough someone had already reported something bad going on. A slashdot story also reports widespread evidence of Russian cyber war.
As our intrepid President sits in China lecturing them on religion our country is impotent to act. While we have dulled the claws of the American Eagle the Russian Bear has emerged from hibernation hungry, cranky, and with a new growth of dangerous claws to go forth and do damage with. Is there really NO end to the damage that this president can do as he makes a mockery out of us? I don't think so. Now we have another crisis and there is not a thing we can do about it.
Putin has had Bush's number for a long time. While Putin is an evil bastard he is a smart one and knows that Bush is a dufus. It is pathetic to see Bush's goofy grin when he is around Putin and thinks that he has Putin's number. Then you see Putin's sly KGB grin as he uses his Judo/Sambo skills to slam George around without mercy on the mat.
Here is a cheesecake picture of Putin who is wildly popular with the women and young people in Russia. Believe it or not this picture is not fake. He really did pose for it:
Enjoy this little clip about how Bush has communicated with the Russians:
I am currently working on a short documentary, probably about a half hour, on motor scooters here in Columbia, Missouri. Since I purchased mine last year the number of scooters on the road have increased. This is a rough cut, barely edited, that I posted on YouTube so that I could share it with some key people. This is the same scooter that I posted a picture of a few weeks ago.
After a rather long investigation as to possible alternative modes of transpertation I decided to get a scooter. A moped, under 50cc and slow at a top end of 35 mph, did not work out. I bought a 150cc Tank scooter which for licensure purposes anyway is considered a motorcycle so I needed a motorcycle operators license and to license my new scooter. The scooter was made in China and reasonably priced.
The 150 cc motor is the scooter and motorcycle workhorse engine in China because it is the maximum engine size allowed for motorcycles and scooters. Three wheeled vehicles can have bigger motors, and they do, but two wheeled transport is limited to the 150cc limit. So, it is an engine design which has a long and successful history in China and elsewhere around the world.
I did a through web search and the only real criticism I found on the Tank scooters was by people who don't own one. People who own the Tank scooters, at least the bigger ones, seemed to love them. So far I have not been disappointed in the one I purchased. The only problem I have had is keeping the battery charged but it has only stranded me once.
If you work in the oil industry, or if you depend on that industry for your lively hood, you should build a little shrine in your home for our current president. The best president big oil has ever had.
Not everything in this speech is wrong although a good deal of it is. The main problem with the speech is how unimaginative it is and what President Bush is really trying to do. This speech provides support to the argument that our president is biased, for whatever reason, toward oil companies which are now enjoying record profits in the slash and burn economics of the free market economy in its current manifestation.
In an effort to take the blame off of his administration's shoulders President Bush in essence is blaming the Democrats for the current high energy costs while providing an essentially useless "solution." Allowing off shore exploration and exploitation of whatever oil resources may, or may not, be lurking there is an anemic stopgap measure at best which will not have any major effect in the longterm energy needs of the nation. Also, from what I can gather those resources, whatever they may or may not be, would not even start to end up at the gas pump until two presidential elections from now.
Who stands to gain by lifting the exploration ban? The American consumer would see a relatively poor return as energy and energy production costs continue to rise. Those resources off our shores in the global market would be literally a drop in the bucket and do little to relieve our underlying systemic problems - such as the fact we are running out of oil and that we are poisoning our planet. The only entities to gain from the lifting of these bans are the oil companies. As oil prices continue to increase historically, which they will, any known reserve will be enormously profitable even if the world can begin the process of weening itself from petroleum. The real purpose of this speech was to set the agenda in the remaining six months of his administration for the lifting of the restrictions of off shore oil exploration which still has the final hurdle of being given a green light by congress.
So why this speech? This speech was designed as an attempt take the pressure off of the current administration for its lack of stewardship in looking after the interest of the American people, and to begin the process of allowing oil companies access to offshore oil deposits. To the very end Bush is proving his loyalty to big business, his lack of vision, and his disregard for the American people. The question is why?
The one explanation that makes the most sense to me is that this guy really believes that whatever is good for business is in the end somehow good for the country. Business comes first and if business prospers that will somehow magically make things good for the rest of us (not paying attention to the fact that corporations are very careful to prevent profit leaks and pay smart people a lot of money to contain profits rather than let them leak to the unwashed masses). Putting business first is not a new idea but it is one that is increasingly becoming the creed and mantra of our society. I would call it a religion. Even those who stand to loose from such a proposition, meaning about 90 percent of the population, are starting to buy into it. See the book What's the Matter with Kansas. Bush is certainly not alone in this magical belief in the inherit good of profitability and in another column I will show how a good many members of the Democratic party have learned to put business first and people second.
I don't agree with her completely but I do think that in light of President Bush's speech you should at least take a look at Naomi Klein's theories:
What does the title of this blog Coming of Age mean? I am 51 years old and find myself in a different world than the one I entered in 1956 and even a different one than the one I was living in two or three years ago. To be sure, the change did not come overnight but gradually. However there are many markers which indicate that the geography has shifted under our feet. Here they are in no particular order and certainly this is not an exhaustive list:
Obama earns the Democratic nomination - consider this the only good thing on my list and in fairness need to include Hillery Clinton's showing as well.
911
Proliferation of nuclear weapons (do NOT kid yourself here)
Definitive indications of climate change
Energy costs steeply increasing and creating a cascade of rising cost for industry and consumer alike
The war in Iraq
I want to focus on the war in Iraq but first a disclaimer. Of course Saddam was a tyrant, a dictator, and a degenerative evil man. Also, you need to understand that it is my firm belief that Iraq is most definitively not better off now than it was earlier, and that the military situation in the Middle East has worsened due to our involvement. In addition to that, we have literally squandered our wealth, reputation, and integrity on that effort which will come to naught. As proof I offer two good books for your consideration.
The Battle of Algiers
My Battle of Algiers: A Memoir by Ted Morgan offers an intelligent and insightful guide to what happened in Algeria as the French desperately tried to hang onto their colony. The French won all the battles but lost the war and wounded their own soul. Assassination and torture were regularly and systematically employed by the French in their loosing effort. By the way, the author emphatically insists that torture did work. I think that is an important point since he shows that the reason we need to avoid torture is not one of efficiency but morality. Rightly so. Torture is not a business decision as we so often try to make things. In this country we have an alarming tendency to judge things on their effectiveness rather than if they are right or wrong. Why can't we just say torture is just wrong and we should not do it?
In Algeria the French exhausted their military strength as the war drained the very lifeblood out of the French military and infected French political life and politics with much bile and poison eventually leading to the fall of one republic and the rise of another. The war resulted in de Gaulle being dusted off one last time to yet again be the savior of France for one last time. An important fact about that war: In its loosing effort France at one point had 450,000 troops in the country. That is more than twice the amount that we have ever had in Iraq. Like us the French also tried unsuccessfully to manipulate and create a friendly political structure in Algeria. This is a book you should read if you want to have some deep background understanding of the historic trends we are facing in Iraq.
The Sirens of Baghdad
The second book is very different. It is a book of fiction written by Mohammed Moulessehoul who writes under the nom de plume of Yasmina Khadra. Unfortunately Monsieur Moulessehoul has some unpleasant things to tell us here in America. Things that are not fun to hear but things which we need to hear as we come of age are the subjects he writes about. The Algerian connection continues since Mohammed Moulessehoul is a former Algerian army officer. The second book is The Sirens of Baghdad.
It starts out well enough. Then about a fourth of the way through I was ready to put it aside as being too predictable. Fortunately I did not set it aside and finished it. Why do so many Iraq's hate us and see our activity as heavy handed? How are terrorist and insurgents (whatever you call them) created? Read this book. This book takes you outside our viewpoint here in the U. S. and into another context which provides another way of seeing things (which by the way is the purpose of education if you do it right).
I remember when we invaded Iraq. I was angry and adamantly against an invasion until troops went over the berms in Kuwait. Then I was supportive and like most Americans watched what I could of a war which was ingeniously censored by the concept of embedding journalist. I remember my wife commenting on my change of attitude. I told her that I had opposed the invasion but now we were in a fight and I hoped that despite my many many misgivings I was hoping against hope that Bush was being honest with us. Much to my sorrow I was wrong. Much to our collective sorrow here in the United States the president was dishonest and wrong. Like a used car salesman he sold us a lemon of a war and we will never ever get our money back. In his vanity and ignorance, ignoring wise consul from many of our allies and friends, he pushed his own agenda and has brought this country on the verge of bankruptcy. Today is July 11th, 2008. Name one thing that is better today than it was before our current president took office. He has been nothing but a force for destruction.
The French walked away in tatters from Vietnam and Algeria. We walked away in tatters from Vietnam and I am predicting the outcome in Iraq will be no different. To blindly believe in ultimate victory in Iraq out of some ignorant and misplaced patriotism, or worse yet just plain old fashioned ignorance, is folly. The world is not that simple anymore. We need to grow up and learn to live and function with new realities and take heed of the new problems which were not all caused by the present administration but which were certainly made worse by the present administrations mismanagement.
We are in trouble and Iraq is a symptom of that. The old status quo is not going to work because it is ran by the same group that failed us. We have too many problems to go back to the old ways and the old names. I like McCain but I don't think he can do it. He cannot help it, but he is a bastion of the old school. He doesn't know any better. At best he might improve some things but he does not have the vision that we need. At best he is a stopgap measure and I am not sure we can afford even that. As a matter of fact, I am sure we cannot. Is Obama the answer? I don't know.
If elected Obama has the potential to be one of the best presidents we have had since Franklin Roosevelt bringing in a fresh perspective with new ideas. He can make us believe in ourselves again, and restore our dignity that has been buried under the shame of Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay. Being the populist he is, he also has the potential to be an absolute disaster.
We are forced to elect these people without really knowing who they are since they are shielded behind a public relations machine that is not only well skilled but well financed. They can put a shine on piece of dirt. Voting for McCain would be a stopgap measure with limited expectations and potential. Probably not a disaster but not much improvement on key issues such as energy, climate change, and the eroded status of the United States as a rogue/bully nation. Voting for Obama is a roll of the dice at the craps table and we can win big or loose big. The Who optimistically sang "Won't Get Fooled Again." I am not that optimistic. We are asking to purchase yet another used car without being able to test drive it first. Being a senator is one thing. Being a president is another thing altogether.
Who should we vote for? Eleanor Roosevelt had this to say about John Kennedy (whom she disliked by the way): "Positions change but character remains the same." Out of the two men who has the character we need? I wish I knew.
So sit back and listen to The Who and ponder this question of being fooled. Will we be fooled again?
My scooter parked in the alley outside of Ragtag waiting for a jump.
When both girls suddenly decided to spend the night at my parents house my wife and I were suddenly left alone together to do as we please. A rare occurrence. We rode the scooter around downtown Columbia to eat and then off to the Ragtag cinema for a movie. We saw The Visitor. I used IMBD's web site as a link instead of the official movie site because the official site crashed both FireFox and Micro$oft's browser at least twice on my computer. Don't know why. But, back to the movie.
The Visitor is the best movie I have seen in years, and certainly in my top ten list. Smart, well constructed, incredible casting, incredible script, and not an ounce of fat on it. It told a story and except perhaps for some language I don't even remember hearing, that earned the film a PG-13 rating, it is a movie I would not be afraid to show to my young daughters. No car crashes, no special effects - just a good story well told about people.
A very nice night and a very good movie. The evening was only marred a little bit by one incident. Oddly enough my Tank 150 Touring machine, that I had been riding around all day, would not start. The battery was dead. I had to call my son to come and give us a jump since I have not yet successfully kick-started that beast. However, Jenifer was a good sport about it and it was a beautiful summer evening made especially nice by being comfortably cool.
Last Friday I had two incidents which reminded me how silly most of us are as we rush from one activity to another.
I gave a test, a fairly difficult test which besides the objective questions had numerous short answer, or short essay, questions. It was the Friday that spring break started and most of the students were out in less than a half hour. Some in about twenty minutes. They could not even take the fifty minutes alloted for the test and instead were looking past it. A trick I learned from another teacher is to write the time a test is turned in on the back and when the student complains of their low grade you can use that little visual aide to instruct them on more prudent test taking practices. I haven't decided yet if I will say something to the whole class, a measure of economy, or on the individual test. I think individually because embarrassing people in public is not right.
Then on the way home I was turning left, across traffic, and having to delay because coming up a hill which restricted vision in the oncoming lane there was an unusual amount of traffic. What I learned when I arrived home latter was that there had been a mishap on the highway and drivers were avoiding it by cutting across town. In other words, a normally placid street as far as traffic goes was unusually busy. So, I hesitated in making that left turn into my neighborhood. Then, from two cars back a small black compact car bypassed me and the other car in front of them to make the left turn into my neighborhood. What?!
I was curious. Nobody would turn into that neighborhood unless they lived there and I am always curious to see what careless and inconsiderate people look like. Especially a neighbor. So I followed and tried to catch up. I think the driver panicked seeing someone "following" them and sped up. They exited the neighborhood and before I could figure all this out I followed. Then they really sped up and darting in and out of traffic zoomed ahead of me and out of sight. So this time saving strategy of essentially jumping ahead of the line ended up costing that driver a lot more time because they ended up in the flow of congestion that was diverting from the accident on the highway.
In the space of less than an hour I had experienced people placing their grade in peril in their haste to save a few minutes, and a driver placing other peoples life in peril in their haste to get home a few minutes early. I don't think either incident was worth it.
Hurry for what? Hurry to what? In my life I want to avoid things like that. I want to avoid being a jerk, I want to avoid bad karma and to do the right thing. I want to be a human being who enjoys every breath and takes life as it comes. You can not rush the seasons of nature or your life. I don't think slowing down a bit would hurt anyone.
I have always been fascinated by India and that fascination refuses to subside. Rather, it is increasing. Some systems of thought within Judaism believe in reincarnation and given my comfort with all things India and Indian food it does make me wonder.
Do you want to learn about India? If so, I want to share three books with you that I highly recommend. The two things all these books have in common is that they are about some facet of India and they are big books with many pages. Not quick reads. Also, I suppose I should mention one other item. All three authors are excellent epic writers. I rather prefer long books and I absolutely love each one of these works. I was disappointed and a little sad when I finished each and every one of them. I suggest reading them in the order I have listed here:
Start your reading with a sumptuous four course banquet courtesy of Paul Scott who wrote a set of four novels collectively titled the Raj Quartet. This is the only item on my reading list which is not written by somebody from India but rather from an Englishman who ended up serving the Crown in India during World War II. Scott ended his military service as a captain in the Indian Army Service Corps and writes knowledgeable about British Imperialism and India as it breaks free from that grip. Scott does a remarkable job of creating some of the most memorable characters and then weaving them together. None of the characters seem to be thrown away as they come back and interact with other characters in different ways and from different directions. For instance, somebody may be introduced in one book and then disappear only to reappear again two or even three books latter. The characters are also multifacated and you have the opportunity to examine them from many critical perspectives. I have never read anything like it. The Raj Quartet chronicles the transistion of Colonial India into a democracy and the main character is Daphne Manners, her Indian lover, and their nemesis in the form of Ronald Merrick a British police officer serving with the Indian Police Services. Although this is a work of fiction it provides a good historical introduction to modern Indian before the British left and sets up the other two books nicely.
A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth is a work of art and I think that Vikram Seth is a genius. This is a novel that opens the door to India for you to walk in and explore. This book artfully compares and contrasts different pairs of seemingly opposed but yet connected ideas or entities such as Hinduism and Islam, India and Pakistan, religious and profane, rural and urban, man and woman, duty and love. This is a book that helps you to at least begin exploring the complexities of India. The main topic of the book, everything else sort of revolves around it, is the search for a suitable boy for young Lata to marry. However, as Lata and her family search for that suitable boy you learn a lot about India in the process. You will learn that these marriages are not arranged but rather negotiated as events which the whole family has an interest in. Frankly, I kind of like the way it works out since it views marriage on a much larger and important scale than just some romantic tryst.
Maximum City: Bombay Lost and Found by Suketu Mehta. By far this is the least romantic book on the list and the only nonfiction one as well. In this book the author's experience as a journalist is put to good use and as far as I can see he holds nothing back - neither the good nor the bad. Explore Bombay, now named Mumbai, with the author who returns to his original homeland with his family from the United States for an extended stay. Read about police methods (rather heavy handed), the slums, Bollywood, organized crime, and how they are all linked together. Along the way you will meet killers both Muslim and Hindu, poets, rogue police officers, everyday people, and even a family of wealthy Jains who renounce everything to find salvation.
If you like to read these three books will provide you with an outstanding introduction to all facets of Indian culture and society which is exceedingly complex. Systems theory holds that as systems age they become more complex and that is surely the reason for India's complexity. India is a mixture of very old cultures and civilizations where the very modern and the very ancient influence life on the same level at any given moment. This happens elsewhere but not with the magnitude that you will find in India. And, somehow it seems to work.
I suppose I need to offer a fourth book to complete your journey. This is not a book about India but a book that does help you place India within its context of the modern world. It is also considerably shorter than the other three works I have recommended to you. The World is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century by Thomas Friedman explains the modern and emerging India. Friedman focuses not on the slums and the poverty but the rise of technology and a nation emerging as an economic and scientific power. You will understand why India has so many call centers and the importance that those centers have as a source of prestigious employment with excellent benefits. It places India in perspective on a world wide basis. As China and India become more and more influential and powerful, and make no mistake that is inevitable, those of us from America and the Western world need to learn more about our neighbors.
